Nile Rodgers: 'Reading Moby-Dick is like being in a time machine.' Photograph: Samir Hussein/ Redferns via Getty Images

Best known as the lead guitarist of R&B and disco group Chic, Nile Rodgers formed the band in 1976, producing tracks including Everybody Dance, I Want Your Love and Le Freak. He has released four solo albums since and collaborated with a host of artists including Diana Ross, Madonna, David Bowie and, most recently, Daft Punk on Random Access Memories. Chic featuring Nile Rodgers are headlining Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul festival in Birmingham today.

I've been going to her live shows for a while and I'm enamoured with everything she does. When I heard Prince and Miguel were going to be on her new album I flipped out. All my favourite people on the same record.

This Cuban restaurant in New York has been my favourite spot since the 1970s. I was there when John Lennon was shot just one block away. I love lechón, which means roast suckling pig. It's infused with garlic, the skin is crackly but it retains the moisture. It's unbelievable.

If I could live in one city and do every single thing I do there, I would choose Venice. You can't turn your head without seeing something amazing. The culture, the art, the food. The Museo della Musica has the most beautiful stringed instruments. It's unbelievably romantic.

Book: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

When I go on vacation, I take very few clothes and a whole lot of books. It's the most soothing thing in the world. Reading Moby-Dick is like being in a time machine. I almost feel as excited as the first time I read it and I always find something new.

I've been a fan from the very beginning. I love the fact he is an antihero hero. He's a serial killer but you adore him because he's in the role of righting society's ills that fall through the cracks. He's the judge, jury and executioner.

I'm completely obsessed with the film versions of Superman. I can't wait to see how Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan have modernised this one for the next century; it will be really interesting to see what they've done. Nolan does an incredible job with every film.